Hunter harvest: December 2012

So it is Christmas eve, and my neighbour has brought me a bunch of Holly to put in a vase in the kitchen. The christmas tree is up and decorated, and there is some of my Mum's delicious fruit cake on the table. Along with the usual hive of holiday activity, we received a call from the fence people last monday to say that they could fit us in before closing for christmas, after all.
Organising the fence has been a bit of a drama, as we knew it needed replacing but were a little naive about the costs involved. After an appalling quote to replace fences around the pool, side of the house and front yard, we needed be more realistic. We chose a simpler design, opted to remove the old fences ourselves, and decided that the roses along the front would provide enough of a barrier for some privacy.

The old fence along the front came down without any trouble, as the panels were simply wired to wooden tomato stakes! The garden now looks so much more open and light without the heavy brown lines and I haven't had a single regret. The front garden bed is looking more colourful all the time, with the Alyssum and Lobelia filling the gaps with blue, white and purple, and some favourite perennials such as Penstemon, Dampiera, Campanula, Angelonia and forget-me-nots between the roses. A good layer of lucerne mulch has finished it off beautifully, helping cut down the watering required (still carting watering cans through the house, but not as many!) and deterring the pesky weeds. I gave up my search for the Rhapsody in Blue rose, as I am too impatient to wait until next winter/spring when all the nurseries will be full of stock again. Instead I happened on a lovely Angelface while shopping and was happy to plant it in the last empty space.

The pool was more of a challenge, but with an even more satisfying result. I have never been a fan of colourbond, but I understand that it has it's place. That place is just not in our yard, running all the way around the pool and blocking the view to the rest of the garden! The brown and olive green colour didn't help the situation, nor did the rusting posts and gaps almost big enough for our dog (or a small child) to get through.

Having looked into the legal requirements for the new pool fence, I am thankful that the council never inspected the old one as we would have found ourselves swimming in fines. Pardon the pun!
Matt has been a knight in shining armour, buying a grinder and spending his break time in between shifts at the restaurant to cut down the panels and posts before the 5 day deadline.

At short notice it was impossible to find kennels that could look after our dog, Olive, for the crucial few days when we had no boundary fence. After all, the weekend before christmas is their busiest time! My heartfelt thanks go to our wonderful friend Leah and her 2 dogs for being so kind in sharing their house!

And by some miracle it was finished on Christmas eve! The new fence is a cream coloured tubular design with a decorative scroll at the top, and taller colourbond sheets along the boundary fence to comply with legalities. From the back patio area you can now see into the pool and beyond. As you can imagine, I am itching to start working on the gardens around the pool to finish it off!